IN an increasingly sensitive world, you can always rely on business mogul Lord Alan Sugar to tell it like it is.
The Apprentice kingpin, who is gearing up for the 15th series of the BBC1 hit which starts tonight, has laid into snowflake millennials for being offended by “anything” and pushing their woke views.
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Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Lord Sugar, 72, said: “The world has gone mad, it’s ridiculous, they are just looking for new things to be offended by.
“It is absolutely crazy, you can’t say anything nowadays without offending somebody with how they look, dress, the colour of their skin or whatever.
“It’s sickening, quite frankly.”
And what does he think about a proportion of the woke generation campaigning for non-binary pronouns?
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The move was recently championed by singer-songwriter Sam Smith and won him a lot of support and praise. But Lord Sugar’s view?
“They need to pack it in, it’s nonsense,” he fumed.
“The people promoting it need to be shipped off to Mongolia. Send them away, get them out the country. Go away. It always boils down to a small bunch of people that promote it.”
The former Spurs chairman was in a typically gruff mood when we met at London’s Soho Hotel after the launch of the latest series of the business-based reality show.
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The subject of the easily offended clearly irks him, potentially as he’s still reeling from the reaction he received on social media for a tweet likening the Senegal football team to Marbella sunglasses sellers.
‘AFFAIRS ON THE SHOW INEVITABLE’
And for showing a jellyfish in a tiny bowl and joking it was his new pet, prompting accusations of animal cruelty.
But it’s not just young snowflakes he’s happy to call out.
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He took aim at Gary Lineker, who is paid £26,000 an appearance for Match Of The Day as part of his £1.75million salary from the BBC.
Lord Sugar, who is still active as an independent peer in the House of Lords, is sceptical sports pundit Gary offered to take a pay cut because it was, “the right thing to do”.
He said: “It’s entirely up to him. He now works as much for BT Sport as he does for the BBC.
“I should imagine they might have said to him, ‘Hey, we used to have you exclusive for football, and now you’re doing the same thing for BT, how about we negotiate a new contract?’
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“I think he might have wrung it a little bit saying he volunteered it. I can’t imagine him volunteering it, quite frankly.”
Wednesday night’s opening episode of The Apprentice sees the 16 wannabe entrepreneurs jet to South Africa for their first challenge.
Unlike fellow Beeb juggernaut Strictly Come Dancing, which The Sun revealed last week had installed eco-friendly rules, The Apprentice producers have clearly disregarded concerns about their carbon footprint.
Lord Sugar, who sold his electronics firm Amstrad to BSkyB for £125million in 2007, is dismissive of the issue.
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He said: “I don’t think we thought about being carbon friendly and going on aeroplanes. Maybe when in the boardroom next we’ll turn the lights off.”
The famous boardroom section sees candidates grilled by the billionaire and his aides, Karren Brady and Claude Littner. Suggesting the segment should be done in candlelight instead, Lord Sugar quipped: “That would then pollute the atmosphere.”
Historically he disapproves of contestants using his show to chase the limelight, but he admits affairs between them are unavoidable.
He said: “It’s none of my business, it happens every year. One pair of candidates have gotten married and had children.
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“They’re an entertaining and good bunch this year — some of them do need to be entertaining. I’m more interested in the credible ones. There are some funny characters too.”
In the show’s earlier years, hopefuls vied for a highly paid job at one of Lord Sugar’s firms. But this annoyed other employees and after Lord Sugar threatened to quit the show, the prize changed to a £250,000 investment in the winner’s business idea. Lord Sugar approves of the set-up.
But last month The Sun revealed he had parted ways with 2016 winner Alana Spencer and her cake brand.
He maintains the split was amicable, adding: “She’s a good girl. I wish her all the luck.”
His most cutting quips
SIR Alan is known for his boardroom broadsides. Here are six of the best . . .
“It’s sink or swim, and you’ve most probably picked up by now that I don’t do life jackets.”
- Warning the 2010 candidates
“If you nod your head any longer I’m going to put you on the back seat of my bloody car.”
- Tom Pellereau’s head-bobbing, 2011
“Could be you’re here because you’re good with words and know the right thing to say at the right time. I know the words to Candle In The Wind. It don’t make me Elton John.”
- Sugar welcomes hopefuls, 2009
“If I had been one of the recipients of your sales pitch, if it’s anything like what you’re doing now, I would have gotten’ hold of your head and pushed it in the bloody cake!”
Elsewhere business is booming, with his 2013 winner Dr Leah Totton, who went on to launch her own cosmetic clinics.
While Lord Sugar admitted forking out £6,000 for an eye-bag treatment in 2007, he still hasn’t let her treat his deep-set frown lines with Botox injections, but he is tempted. He said: “I’ve avoided Botox, she’s not touched me at all. “She wants to get rid of my turkey neck, but I won’t let her yet. I am tempted to get rid of it, but I want a guaranteed promise I won’t be in pain.”
One person he is happy to reveal has undergone some work is his social media sparring partner Piers Morgan.
He said: “Piers Morgan doesn’t stop going on about me having cosmetic surgery.
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“But I caught him out the other day, and we have it on tape, that he’s had his teeth done.
“I got him to admit it, finally, that he had them whitened.”
As well as being as mentally sharp as ever, Lord Sugar strives to stay fit, exercising several times a week with gym and tennis sessions. But he discovered he had a killer heart defect and had a stent fitted 21 months ago. Then last month he had a knee replacement.
‘BORIS IS A BIT ZANY BUT GETS THINGS DONE’
Hours before going under the knife last month he said: “It will take me out for three weeks. It’s from doing too much sports, like tennis and cycling. And I’m too old. I’ll be able to go back to it after I’ve had it done, for sure.
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“My heart’s in great condition. I keep fit and watch what I eat. In a way, sport relaxes me. I’m out cycling, the air is nice and clean, my mind is fresh. I don’t smoke, but I enjoy a drink, you’ve got to enjoy life.”
Last week Lord Sugar confessed he would like to front The Apprentice for another five years, until he is 77, if the BBC renews his contract next year.
He said: “I still love doing it because it’s starting up new business, it’s exciting and takes me back to the old days.
“I like inspiring people. It’s irrelevant that we have a bad political climate at the moment.
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“They should close their ears to all of that and focus on themselves.”
The London-born businessman has been clear about his views on Brexit, claiming it has made the country “a laughing stock”.
And while he brands Prime Minister Boris Johnson “a criminal” he threatened to leave the country in May if Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn is elected. But who does he think would be a better candidate if they appeared on The Apprentice?
“It’s an impossible question,” Lord Sugar admitted. “I suppose Boris because he can spin a story.
“I thought he was a great mayor of London, he did well, he gets things done, there’s no question, he’s a bit zany.
“I lost interest and respect for him when he lied about the £350million a year on the NHS red bus. It has most probably caused us all this trouble and why people voted for us to leave.
“But I don’t think Corbyn will be able to get us out of this mess — he is a communist, simple as that.”
